2025-06-30 15:34:40Noticing no more pulse beat, a wide Danny's face narrowed, realizing the truth as His head tilted slightly. "No!" he whispered. He stood up brokenly, without saying anything, his eyes lost their spark, walked towards the endpoint direction slowly, guilt and veins pulsed visibly at his neck towards the people on his face clearly etched, and his mind reeled to his bitter past.
"Mom, I brought my favorite chocolate ice cream!!!!!" Danny called out, his voice filled with youthful excitement. He looked younger, holding an ice cream cone in his hand, a cream stain over his upper lip.
Danny's mother stood in the huge crowd of people. She nodded with a smile, watched Danny, and waved him to wait there.
Danny nodded in agreement as he licked his ice cream and closed his eyes in enjoying every bite.
"Buy 1 Get 1 Free!" a man with a loud voice announced in front of the shop in the supermarket. After hearing an announcement, a crowd of more than five hundred people rushed towards the single shop.
Someone in the crowd bumped into Danny's mother's leg, the angle buckled, injured as she fell without balance. Her spectacles were knocked from her face, and then people stepped on the glass, shattering it into many pieces. Danny's mother's vision was blurred, without knowing the truth, she tried to search for glass, but people stepped on her hand, legs, and chest everywhere. "Ah! Wait....Please...." she shouted, trying to stand, but another lady's heels clicked into her hand first, then her throat.
In that moment, his mom lost her ability to speak, her throat bleeding like water. Her heart raced against her ribs, and her eyes widened as they darted, desperately searching for help from Danny. After a few struggles of Danny's mother's breath stopped, holding her purse tightly as her blood flowed like a flood on the white floor. Her gaze remained fixed on Danny's side, watching him until the very end.
Now, the hall became silent, and an ice cream fell from Danny's hand, and his eyes remained on Danny's mother's body as he walked towards her, shock seizing him, his hand trembling in shock.
At the same time, the guards came on the opposite side, grabbed her body and ran towards the ambulance, where standing outside the building with an emergency alarm sound.
A guard held Danny back from watching, grabbing his hand. "Mom!" he screamed his lungs out, struggling against the guard's grip, his scream unending and echoing through the whole mall. "Mom!" Danny's mind blocked his mother's death. "Mom," he called out, his voice low and pained as he walked absently, everything blurring around him."People never change... they never care for others... selfish world... Mom, I don't deserve this world. I'm tired of this shit world..." he whispered as he walked slowly forward, devoid of any hope or belief in his life.
A tear welled up in Yumiko's eyes, her gaze shifting between Danny's trembling walk and the dead man as she struggled to make a sudden decision. She heartily bowed to the dead man to apologize. She kept her half-drunk water bottle near the dead body and moved towards Danny.
"We left nine minutes...." Dean screamed, breaking a tense emotional moment in the center of the crowd. His voice echoed as his eyes were filled with playful and challenging.
Xavier turned back and glanced at the players, where the others were running. What... nine minutes? But the old people are still at the center. Is it possible for them to cross within time? He questioned himself. Shit! I just wasted time explaining my theory. If I'd revealed this before, the old people might have had a chance of crossing this desert. A surge of guilt consumed his mind. His legs slowed down, the guilt taking over.
The entire group behind him passed Xavier, but his legs continued to slow.
Behind, Yumiko was grabbing Danny's hands tightly, a guilt on his face never faded, and he was absently his legs running towards the endpoint.
Yumiko removed her and stood in front of Danny, "What the hell is your problem? Are you trying to kill yourself?" she roared, her voice filled with anger and disappointment. "I know it's hurt you, but you can't sacrifice your life towards these selfish, cowardly people." Watching Danny face, lift his chin downwards, make him face reality. Her voice was lower and concerned than before. "Are you serious? You just want to save me, but now you want to kill both of us, isn't?" A disappointed smirk replaced her expression.
No response from Danny stood silently.
"Look, we just left five minutes... I don't know how to convince to reach the endpoint... But" she paused, watching the timer, then meeting Danny's eyes, "I've never wanted to live... but today, I really want to live my life... I don't want to die here... Can you please help me? I've never had a friend in my entire life. I just thought of you as a good friend." She struggled to make him understand. "Danny, I can't leave you like others did... Please!" she begged, holding his hand and turning towards the crowd. "My life is in your hands."
Danny came back to reality by her words, his eyes shifted to Yumiko's red tear tear-stained face to the sand, his mom's words echoed in his ears, "Danny.... Sometimes you must sacrifice your feelings for someone. It's also a make you a great person. I love you, Danny.... My son is a helpful and kind person. I am always proud to have you as son," his mom said and kissed his cheeks warmly; her words hit his mind. "Mom..." he whispered, tears fell, and she held his hand and "I just want to reach this desert for my mom's words...." he forced a smile and dragged her towards an endpoint.
At the same time, an office-dressed woman noticed Xavier's eyes remained on facing old people; she immediately sensed his hesitation. "It's not your fault," she murmured as she held his hand.
"No! It's mine!" Xavier replied, guilt audible in his voice.
"You think everything is your fault...." she started as she noticed a time, less than a minute!!!!! She thought. " I can explain later...." She murmured as she grabbed his hand and ran towards the endpoint.
The timer now beeped every second. Everyone's eyes shifted between the endpoint and the timer, "0:58"
A few of them were nearly at the very end of the endpoint. Clara, with two people beside her, was at the front. She had only five rows left to finish her game and encouraged the remaining survivors with hope. "Come on... hurry up!" she shouted, her voice motivating them. As she stepped on the last third second, a man on her left side vanished into the sand, and another man fell when she reached the final row.
The group stood frozen in disbelief, their eyes wide as they watched the two players disappear into the sands. A collective gasp echoed among them as they held their breath, rooted to the spot. Fear flickered on their faces, and their legs trembled, hesitant to move forward.
Clara stood frozen, her eyes remained on, still processing the incident.
"What the hell happened to them?" Dean questioned as he passed the others, noticing each face etched with horrific fear. His brows furrowed in confusion, suddenly widening as he realized the truth of the vanished people. His gaze shifted to the timer. "Fuck!" he screamed, his mind blocked with fear.
As he pushed him harder, step by step, he moved forward. He placed one leg in front, but his inner fear prevented him from stepping on the square. Trying is better than dying, he thought as he removed his shoe and placed it on the 2nd row. It remained in the same place. He let out a deep sigh of relief as he jumped towards the last row, threw his shoe, and luckily it remained in the same place.
A relieved smirk appeared on Dean's lips as he jumped into the endpoint. "I won this fucking game!" he shouted, jumping in happiness.
Now time, "0.30"
Each person followed the same way to reach the endpoint, one by one, quickly.
"Four old guys are still standing..." the short girl murmured. "I feel bad for them... they don't deserve this..."
The nearby girl agreed as her eyes remained on Xavier, who looked completely sad and guilty on his face. Understood his pain, the bride reached out. "You're awesome, man... You saved more than 30 survivors," she thanked him.
The bald man tapped him on the shoulder, and every survivor encouraged him, but his eyes remained fixed on the old people, who were now tiny figures in the vast desert. They were dying with a serene acceptance.
Now everyone's eyes focus on Yumiko, Danny, and the timer. "10, 9.... "Someone starts counting, watching them from a few meters away.
"Hurry up, dear...."Clara shouted, her eyes even flit, just reminded of them.
"Come on.... You can do it." Everyone encouraged them, raising their hands and waving towards them
Every second now feels like an eternity for everyone. Behind everything fell inside, the old people holding their hands fell into the sand peacefully, accepting their fate.
Now, Yumiko and Danny's legs ran as fast as they could. She reached two seconds before, but in that sand dust, Danny fell just two squares from the end.
The group's eyes widened in shock, watching Danny's fall and the sand drop behind him. He used all his strength; he jumped towards the endpoint. But his hand missed as his standing square also fell.
"No!!!!!!!!!!!" Yumiko screamed, her eyes squeezed shut against the intensity watching a Danny vanished into the sand.
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CHAPTER 14: Level 1: Sky Game
Kendall squeezed her blue gaze as she touched the first soft white flakes softly and it melted quickly. "It's beautiful!!!" She said, admiring the place."Yeah! This place doesn't feel like a game anymore!" another Japanese woman chuckled with a smile.Others glanced at the endless white snow land, which stretched to the border of the cloudy sky.But the moment of wonder was cut short. Kendall's brows touch together; her wide smile diminishes when the thick snowflakes touch her skin. Now the soft snowflake became thicker than before. "Wait! What! The size of the snow is getting increased...." she murmured as her gaze sought Alex.Nearby, Alex spread his palm and touched the flake; it took a full five seconds to vaporise, signaling the rapidly plunging temperature. Both their eyes snapped to the holographic timer: "8:54."Suddenly, a realization hit his mind and recalled the AI-announced game rules."You are in the Sky Arena Game. Your target is to reach the safety cave. Rules:- Game
CHAPTER 13: Level 1: Running out of time!
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CHAPTER 12: Level 1: WATER GAME.
Meanwhile, opposite the maze, "G-Go fast, go fast", Faris shouted under his breath. Holding a piece of paper in his hand, a crude red line marking their intended path through the maze to the midpoint."Which side?" Finn gasped, and a heavy, sweating droplet flowed like a fall on his forehead. The anxiety in his eyes was clearly visible as he watched the timer, which displayed "3:00"Faris's eyes were fixed on the paper and flipping back and forth. "Left.... hurry up...." He ordered, in a slurred tone, pointing toward the rapidly approaching corner.Both of their legs were worn out, their vision blurred, and their ears ringing from continuous running. Finally, Faris and Finn saw a small, bright, undeniable space far ahead. "There's the midpoint..." Faris whispered, then a wide, relieved smile broke across both their lips."We did...it ..... Hey man, we did it..."Finn was screaming in excitement, and both were hugging in real victory, and finally stepped out from the maze to the midpoi
CHAPTER 11: Excepted Betrayal.
"Look, we've got 23 minutes left, so I need more players to split our work and find the midpoint of this maze..." Zade stated, his voice clear. "There are fifty paths here," he added, gesturing towards the maze. "We can't make it on time alone... but if we support each other, we'll get there," he explained his proposal with an accepting smile.The game is getting more interesting than I expected! Marina wondered with a knowing smile that played on her heart-shaped lips as her gaze shifted towards her group. "Are you requesting or ordering?" she asked, clearly teasing him sarcastically."Nope! I am requesting" Zade confirmed, nodding firmly. His eyes were full of a practical hope that contrasted with her cynicism."But why do we have to agree to your request?" Marina questioned, her tone cold and deep as she moved closer to Zade. "What if you guys find the way before my girls do?" She walked a slow circle around him, like a moon orbiting the Earth. She stopped in front of him, watching
CHAPTER 10: Level 1: New idea!
Meanwhile, Anna and Zade remained same place after a few searches, their gaze shifting between the timer and remaining players, who were still like them searching for the correct path. "What do we do? Everyone's already in the game just like us, but no one has found the path." Anna murmured in a dull, disappointed tone, leaning against the rough bark of the tree wall."Why do I still feel dizzy? How did I end up here? Everything feels like a dream to me.... A ton of questions raced through Zade's mind. "It's square, right?" he asked to clarify his doubt, his eyes tracing the impossible path until they strained, blurring with the distant heat haze." Yes...." Anna nodded quickly. "The system announced, We can start our game wherever we want is the rule. If we reach the midpoint, the Game is clear." She recalled the rules again and again to crack the code, and she immediately turned towards the Zade with enthusiasm of a sudden, sparking idea. "What was that in the center? If this were a
CHAPTER 9: Level 1: Another maze
All players, eyes scanning back and forth, tilting their heads to the side in confusion. "Where the hell did the sound come from?" he asked, listening to the sound direction carefully.A man's brow furrowed deeply, a crow's wrinkle appearing in the corner of his eyes. "Level 1?" He muttered, his voice incredulous."Huh? Gamers, what does it mean?" The Asian girl enquired, glancing innocently at the remaining crowd, and flipped her card repeatedly.Again, a familiar AI voice rang out, calm and mechanical, breaking the uneasy silence. "Welcome to the Fire Game, Gamers."The group froze, the voice cutting through the trees like a knife. Their ears and minds focused and followed the AI's voice.AI continued. "You are in the Fire Arena Game. Your target is to reach the midpoint of this maze square.Rules:- Gamers can start the game wherever they want in this square.- Each person is provided with one bottle of water.- The Maze is 1 kilometre wide. Gamers must reach the midpoint within for
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